When it comes to spurious and inappropriate comparisons with Nelson Mandela, the Guardian wins first prize.
Dave F, commenting on Ken Livingstone’s implied Qaradawi/Mandela comparison draws our attention to yesterday’s Guardian article by some fool called Adam Nicolson who thinks:
“The campaign against the Newchurch guinea pig farm may have shocked, but Nelson Mandela would understand it.”
But of course, it is David Hirst who takes the prize for the worst Mandela comparison of all in his obit of Sheikh Ahmed Yassin:
In truth, neither Arafat nor Yassin had Mandela’s special greatness. But of the two, it was Yassin, the founder-leader of the militant Islamist organisation Hamas, who came closer. The reason was not to be found in his beliefs – which, in their narrow, obscurantist, religious frame, were far removed from the South African’s lofty humanism and compassion – but in the facts of his career, and the part that certain, very personal, qualities – of selflessness, simplicity, conviction and a true sense of service – played in bringing it to fruition.
Come on you Googlers. Any others?
